In June 2000, the Belarus
SIG Online Newsletter published "Pnina
and Avram's Story" by
Kelly Modlin. Kelly told the story of his wife
Pnina's search for her identity and her reunion
after 58 years with her brother Avram. But the
story didn't end there.In "Pnina
and Avram: The Story Continues
(December 2002), the Modlins related the results
of another trip to Belarus and Russiato
continue their search for more information about
Pnina's parents. Sadly, Pnina died before these
questions could be answered.

In
this article, Kelly tells about his latest
efforts to complete the study of his late wife's
roots.

Revisiting Belarus in Quest of the
Late Pnina Modlin's Family Roots

July 2003

I undertook this trip with the hope of solving the
outstanding problems of the late Pnina's identity. At the
outset, I decided or should I say, came to the conclusion
that the trip would be the culmination of over thirty
years of searching for Pnina's identity, years of ups and
downs, years in which we experienced success as well as
disappointment. Where hadn't we been? Poland, Hungary,
Czech and Slovakian Republics, not forgetting the
Ukraine, Moldovia, Russian Republic and obviously Belarus.
After careful planning and knowing exactly where and what
had to be researched, I set out. I was fully aware that
whatever the outcome would be, for good or bad, I would
have come to the end of the road and unwillingly put a
stop to my continual searching.

The main aim of my journey was to try and solve the
problem of six major outstanding objectives, which till
this very day remain unsolved. From the outset I knew
that the possibility existed that I might come away with
a partial success or completely empty handed. The six
objectives are as follows:

1. The Maiden name of Pnina's mother,
Chana Lejbovna.

2. Her father Isaak Mojshe
Avramovich's place of birth and fate.

3. Finding her brother Avram's Birth
Certificate.

4. The place of birth and fate of her
brother Boris, who was her father's son from a previous
marriage.

5. The Marriage Certificate of Boris
and his wife Manya, whom we recently found living in the
town of Bat Yam in Israel.

6. Their parent's Marriage
Certificate.

Where to Look?

Obviously all this requires rather a good bit of
traveling. Going through the listings of the various
Central, Regional and Zonal Archives of Belarus, I had
marked those which I thought might contain important
information in order to solve some of my problems. To be
more specific:

BREST - State Archives of the Brest Region.

1. Genealogical Records for Polesye Voevodstvo
(whole Territory 1920-1939). These records contain
Identity Cards, Certificates of Birth, Marriage and Death.
Besides the name of Records, the Date, Fond/Inventory and
File Numbers are given. As Khoyniki was part of Polesye,
possibly they may contain Avram's Birth and Parents
Marriage Certificates.

2. The fond of the Brest School Okrug Board of
Guardians contains names of students in the school okrug,
which in 1921 - 1939 covered the Polesye voevodstvo.
During these years, the elder brother Boris attended
school.

3. The Fonds of the Polesye Orthodox Ecclesiastical
Consistory. These Fonds also contain information
concerning the Judaic Religious Communities.

MINSK- National Historical Archives

Contain Documents pertaining to the Khoyniki Jewish
Community of Minsk Province till 1919. The question was
whether this includes Zabolotye Birth Records
for the year 1908, the year in which Pnina's mother was
born. This would have been a problematic search, as we do
not know her maiden name. Therefore such a search of the
1908 Birth Registrations could only be done personally,
as it would require checking the lists according to her
given and father's name. Only in this way could we
discover her family (maiden) name.

MINSK - National Archives

Contains information only from 1917, which doesn' t
include births, marriages and deaths.

2. Fonds of trade Unions: As their Father was a
Shoemaker, he worked in an Artel (Co-Op) in Khoyniki.

3. Fonds of the Soviet Union Army Units Relating to
WWII: Gomel Peoples Volunteer Regiment fond 4524, 25
items 1941. Lists of the battalion's personnel, company
and platoon leaders. Possibly the father might have
belonged to this Unit.

MINSK - Military Archives

When visiting the Archives during previous visit we
didn't possess documents regarding the father's
conscription into the Army. It might be worthwhile
rechecking.

Archives dealing with N. K. V. D. personnel. I read
somewhere that such an institute exists but just couldn't
remember exactly where. The brother Boris served in the N.
K. V. D. Just before the outbreak of War he was
transferred to the Mordovskya SSR.

GOMEL REGION ZAGS.

Marriage Certificates of the Father/Mother and Boris/Manya.
Avram's Birth Certificate.

MOZYR - Zonal State Archives -
Polesye Region 1938-1954.

Educational Files. Boris School.

MOZYR ZAGS.

1. Parents, and Boris/Manya Marriage Certificates.

2. Avram's Birth Certificate.

KHOYNIKI - ZAGS.

1. Marriage Certificate - Boris/Manya.

2. Birth Certificate - Manya.

KHOYNIKI - Municipality.

1. List of Residents, House Owners.

2. Trade Unions - father.

Khoyniki Hospital.

1. Mother (sickly person) could have been a patient.

2. Perhaps Avram and Pnina were born in the Hospital.

Village.

Old people with memories could remember the mother or
other members of the family.

Police.

Father and Boris arrived in Zabolotye in 1934
and most probably were registered there on their arrival.

Evacuation Trains.

Information concerning the departure of trains which
evacuated the civil population to the East and safety.

Priorities: How to Divide My Time?

The question was how to divide up the time at my
disposal, what with Saturday and Sunday in the middle?
For example, is one day sufficient for traveling to
Brest, spending time at the Archives and returning to
Minsk?

On arrival at the Minsk Airport, I was
met by Inna Markova, who was to be my guide and
translator during my stay in Belarus. I was most lucky
having her at my side as she speaks, reads and writes
English perfectly, and, most important, is very efficient.
It had been pre-arranged for me to stay in a private home
while in Minsk. This suited me fine as the idea of
looking for new lodgings each time we returned from a
journey to the outlying districts would be problematic.
In addition to this, financially it was a very good
arrangement and what's more, not being able to speak
Russian. I could converse with my landlady, Adel, in
Yiddish.

Kelly, with Adel at her 71st
birthday party

As planned, the day after my arrival (Wednesday, July
23) was spent visiting the various Minsk Archives.
Descending the stairs and reaching the sidewalk I was
struck by a magnificent structure on the opposite side of
the street. Being very impressed with the beauty of the
structure, Inna informed me that it was the KGB
Headquarters. Adel's apartment building is situated on
Frantsisk Skorina Ave., one of the main thoroughfares of
Minsk and directly opposite the KGB's Headquarters.
Instinctively my response was "Just the place to
start."

KGB Headquarters in Minsk

So, crossing the intersection, we entered
the building and made our way to the enquiry desk. Who
knows, perhaps we could get onto the footsteps of Boris,
the elder brother, who joined their ranks before the
outbreak of WWII. The officer on duty was most obliging
and helpful. After explaining the purpose of our visit we
submitted a formal request pertaining to Boris's service
in their organization. In addition to this, she gave us
the address of the KGB Archives in Moscow and advised us
to write them, in order to make additional enquiries: Bolsheiya
Lublanka 1/3 URAF FSB Russia. We were also given
an address of the KGB Office in the capital city of the Mordovskaya
Republic: Saransk Mordofskaya CCR USFB.

After his marriage to Manya and prior to
the German invasion of Russia, Boris was transferred to
some unknown post in the Republic of Mordovia.
His intention was to send for her after settling down and
finding a place to stay. Obviously this was not to be,
due to the German invasion of Belarus. Manya together
with Pnina, Avram and their mother, was evacuated to the Orenburg
District in the Ural Mountains. On returning to Khoyniki
after the war she was informed by the authorities that
the whereabouts of Boris were unknown and that he was
missing. So off we went to the Central Post Office of
Minsk, in itself a magnificent structure, in order to
write and dispatch the relevant letters to Moscow and Saransk,
capital of the Mordovian Republic.

From the KGB Building, we made our way to
43 Kirova Street, a walk of some five to ten minutes. Our
objective this time was the National Archives of Belarus.
Inna and I were once again warmly received by the
Archivists, who gave us their full attention. We spent a
few hours discussing each and every relevant problem of
my research, even if not directly connected to matters
dealt with by the NARB. Galina, the Archivist who dealt
with us, was very thorough and made a concise list of
each and every point discussed. Obviously, all this
required research and it was decided that we would return
the following Thursday in order to receive a full report
on her findings. We departed with the very good feeling
that even if no solutions would be found to our problems,
at least a comprehensive report would await us the
following week. I had learned from our meeting with
Galina that speculation and deductions aren't acceptable
to the Archivists. They only go by historical,
geographical facts and documents. I anxiously awaited our
next meeting with Galina.

After a pre-arranged appointment made by
Inna with Sergei Aleksandrovich, the Archivist on duty,
we made our way to the National Historic Archives of the
Republic of Belarus. It was not necessary to explain
ourselves, as Sergei had previously dealt with my letter
requesting information regarding Pnina's family. At the
outset, it was quite obvious that the chance of finding
any information was very scant, as they only keep
documents from the beginning of the 19th century to 1917.
This period was relevant to her mother, whom we know was
born in 1908. However, her maiden name is unknown to us.
The same applies to her father and brother Boris, since
their place of birth is also a mystery. We came away
without any definite results but feeling satisfied that
the professionals are prepared to listen, give advice and
help. How should I say - "Wherever I went I left my
footsteps behind me and who knows that somewhere along
the line something will POP UP and we shall be remembered".

According to my original planning, on
Thursday and Friday (July 24, 25) we were due to travel
to Brest in order to visit the State Archives of the
Brest Region, which, as mentioned previously, contain the
Identity cards, Certificates of Birth, marriage and Death
for the Polesye Voevodstvo whole territory, 1920
- 1939. They also contain the fond of the Brest School
Okrug Board of Guardians, dealing with students for the
period 1921 - 1939 in the Polesye Voevodstvo. In
the USSR Census of 1939 the name of the Oblast in which Khoyniki
appears is POLESYE (according to Modechai Altshuler's
book "Distribution of the Jewish Population of
the USSR, 1939"). When dealing with my visit to
Khoyniki Regional Voyenkomat (Military Committee), I
learned that Pnina's father, after being conscripted, had
to report to the representative of the Polesye Oblast
Voyenkomat, one Comrade KARAPUZOV. I had great hopes of
solving the following problems:

1. Finding Avram's Birth
Certificate

2. The Father and
Mother's Marriage Certificate.

3. Boris's School
Records.

Before setting out for Brest, however, we
decided to inquire whether the Archives at Brest had any
information regarding Khoyniki. Although Khoyniki
was situated in the Polesye District prior to
the War Years, we were informed that the Brest Archives
never held any documents concerning the town. What a
disappointment. The same applied to the Archives of Mozyr.
We could only hope that on Monday and Tuesday (July 28,
29) we would have better luck at the Archives of Khoyniki
and Gomel.

The question now was what does one do
with four days, two being Saturday and Sunday, before
setting out to Zabolotye, Khoyniki and Gomel.
Thursday the 24th was spent writing letters and checking
with various Archives, such as the main Military Archives
in Minsk regarding the Father's service in the Soviet
Army. Inna noticed that the name MISHURES
was misspelled in certain letters, (translated into
Russian) which previously I had written to the Central
Archives of the Ministry of Defense in Podolsk and the
Russian State Military Archives in Moscow. What appeared
in the letters was MICHURES instead of MISHURES.
The replies received obviously stated that there was no
information in their files concerning a soldier by the
name of MICHURES, Isaak Mojshe. We
requested that they recheck their files. Who knows,
perhaps one day in the not too distant future they shall
surprise us with good news.

Khatyn

Khatyn Memorial Statue of Josef
Kaminski

On Friday morning (July 25) we headed
north to Khatyn, a distance of some 60 km on the
main Minsk- Vitebsk Highway. Khatyn was a
Village or Hamlet where once 149 people, including 75
children, lived. All in all, 26 households, simple people
going about their daily chores, practically completely
cut off from the outside World. (This is not to be
mistaken for the Khatyn Forest near Smolensk,
Russia, where in 1939/40 some 4000 Polish officers were
massacred by the NKVD.) On March 22, 1943, these 26
houses, with their inhabitants, were burned by the Nazis.
The Memorial is also in memory of another 618 Villages
where the inhabitants were burned alive, with their
homes, by the Germans.

Khatyn Memorial

Each house, 26 in all, are symbolically
marked on the path leading up to them, and 26 brick
chimneys each contain a bell at the top and plaques with
the names and ages of those who lived there at the bottom.
Every minute a bell in a different chimney rings,
constantly reminding us about the horrible crimes of
which human nature is capable. This constant ringing is
also a reminder neverto forget.
The sculpture at the head of the Memorial is that of
Josef Kaminski, the only living survivor. He was away
when the disaster befell the village. He is seen holding
the burned and charred body of his son. Kaminski remained
in Khatyn for the rest of his life.

Shabbat and Sunday were obviously two
days that had to be dealt with outside the sphere of
genealogical searching before our departure towards Zabolot'
ye and Khoyniki, Pnina's place of birth.
Adel's apartment is within walking distance of Dauman
Street, where the Orthodox Shul is situated. So, on
Shabbat morning I took a nice long stroll along the banks
of the Svisloch River, where parts of it form a lake, and
past the Temple-Monument in memory of the Russian
soldiers killed in Afghanistan. Here, a constant stream
of newlyweds, together with the close relatives,
congregate at the Monument in order to pay homage to the
fallen by placing bouquets of flowers at its base and
take photographs.

After lunch and a short rest I took
myself off once again, obviously by foot, to the Old
Ghetto of Minsk. I remembered it from our previous visit
to Belarus and had no problem finding my way. As I drew
near, all that was required to guide me was the smell of
fresh bread being baked in the ovens of the bakery
situated in what was once the Ghetto of Minsk. In the
immediate vicinity of the bakery is a yard in which the
Jewish inhabitants of the Ghetto and of Minsk were
murdered by the Nazis. They went to their death with the
smell of fresh bread in their nostrils. Next I turned to
the building on the corner of Rakovskaya Street, where
once a Mezzuza was embedded in the doorpost of a house,
the only remaining indication in all of Minsk of what was
once a Jewish household. What a bitter disappointment to
find that the doorframe has been replaced by a new one.
From the Ghetto I made my way to the corners of
Melnikaite and Zaslavskaya Streets, the Memorial
to Hitler Genocide Victims. The memorial had
just been desecrated and defaced with the painting of
swastikas. Towards evening I returned to my lodgings,
after a long day saddened by what I had seen.

Come Sunday afternoon (July 27), we
traveled some 37 km northwest on the Minsk - Vilna
Highway to the town of Rakov. Prior to 1939 the
town was situated on the border dividing western and
eastern Belarus. The west was under Polish rule and the
east was dominated by Russia. In 1939, with the German
invasion and partitioning of Poland, Belarus was
integrated into the Soviet Union and became one of the
Republics in the greater USSR. All this is past history,
as the Soviet Union no longer exists and Belarus is now
an independent country.

The actual reason for our traveling to Rakov
was to visit the Old Jewish Cemetery, which remained
unscathed by the war. We had no problem identifying the
place, as the outer perimeter of the cemetery is
encompassed by a built up stonewall in the front and a
padlocked wrought iron gate embossed with a Magen David.
The rest of the area has a wrought iron fence around it.
In order to get in and out I had to climb over the fence.
Due to the condition of some of the headstones it is
obvious that the Cemetery has been visited in the not too
distant past. Some of the headstones have had their
inscriptions renewed or painted, making them more
readable. One example is the grave of a certain Rabbi
Rubinstein. Before departing the cemetery, I photographed
some of the graves where the inscriptions were readable.
Below is a list of the names appearing on the headstones.
Anybody interested in any of the photos can contact me
personally and I would gladly send them copies. The names
appearing on the headstones are as follows:

DARSKI, Zusman bar Chaim
Levi

BUTVINIK, Ari (Arie)
Leib ben Moshe Yehuda

BUTVINIK, Chana bat
Moshe

RUBINSTEIN, Harav Moshe
Arieh bar Yehoshua

Rakov Cemetery

As I made my way through the cemetery, I
felt very uncomfortable. It was a very moving experience
and I came away feeling very sad at seeing a world that
had been, but never to return. All those untended graves,
tombstones, with no evidence as to who lies below them.
Some of the headstones are in an upright position while
others are tilting over and, of course, there are so many
unmarked graves. As you make your way through all the
weeds and undergrowth, you are aware that there are
graves underfoot, and as much as you endeavor, it is
virtually impossible not to tramp on some of them. I had
the feeling that I was treading on the past. Judging by
the condition of some headstones (those that still exist),
a lot covered with moss, the way of engraving and the
shapes of the stones, I should imagine that Jews lived
there from way back. Unlike the cemetery in Khoyniki,
about which I shall write later on in this narration,
there were no signs of vandalism.

On Monday, July 28, we traveled south via
Babrujsk, Kalinkavicy to Zabolot'ye and
Khoyniki. Our first stop was at the Khoyniki
ZAGS (Archives dealing with Birth, Marriage, Divorce and
Death). This time, unlike my previous visit with the late
Pnina, we informed the Archivist of our intending visit.
The Archivist was very helpful and even allowed me to
photograph the underside of Pnina's Birth Certificate, a
most moving experience - this requires an explanation.
The underside of the original Birth Certificate has
additional information beyond the usual formalities such
as names, religion, dates and place of birth etc. The new
information, which previously was unknown to us, includes:

Father: MISHURES, Isaak
Mojshe Avramovich.

Born: 1894. Place not mentioned.

Arrived: Zabolot'ye 1934.

Occupation: Shoemaker, worked in an Artel
(Co-operative).

Mother: MISHURES, Chana
Lejbovna.

Maiden Name: Not given.

Born: 1908.

Place of Birth: Zabolot'ye

Occupation: Housewife, supported by her
Husband.

Signed: in Yiddish

Khoyniki ZAGS - Inna, Archivist
and Registration Book open at Pnina's Birth Certificate

We endeavored to follow up on the information
appearing in the birth certificate, however with very
little if any conclusive results. Although the name of
the Artel that employed the father is known,
unfortunately there are no records to be found. The same
applies to lists of householders during that period. With
regards to the registration and issuing of Internal
Passports, I was led to understand that the situation in
the outlying districts was different from that in the
bigger centers and towns. On arrival it was not necessary
or people simply didn't report to the Police (NKVD) in
order to have their passports altered. Thus, it was not
possible to discover from whence the father and Boris
arrived.

It was suggested that we speak to an old Jewish lady
from Zabolot' ye who might have remembered the Mishures
family, or the mother, as she was born in the village.
The old woman lives in an apartment building just down
the road. We were told it wouldn't be a problem finding
her, as she always sits on the bench in front of the
building. Unfortunately, she could not help us, as at the
time she was still too young to remember.

The ZAGS Archivist directed us to the Educational
Department of the city in the hope of finding some
information regarding the brother, Boris. Here, archivist
Ludmilla Vadimirovna went out of her way to help us.
Apparently, until our arrival at her office she had never
been approached by anybody seeking information regarding
a student from the 1930s. The best she could do was to
give us the name and phone number of the Headmistress of
the No. 2 School in Khoyniki, where all the
Jewish children studied. I should image that Boris
studied there as well. Ludmilla Vadimirovna impressed us
as being one of our tribe.

At this point, an old acquaintance from our previous
visit to Khoyniki, Iakov Yefimovich Volfson,
joined us. It was wonderful seeing and speaking to him
again. Again, he was most helpful in aiding us to
navigate from place to place. First, we revisited the
local Voyenkomat, the office dealing
with all military matters, including the conscription of
soldiers into the Army. On our previous visit we received
a document dealing with the conscription of Pnina's
father. (See "Pnina
and Avram: The Story Continues (December
2002). Due to all the excitement on receiving
the document and being pressed for time, we never thought
of asking if there was any other information in
connection with his military call-up. The answer wasn't
long in coming. The Archivist, with Inna's help, came up
with the following information appearing on page 33 of a
registration book:

"Personal name List of those conscripted to the Khoiniki
Regional Voyenkomat and directed to the town of Dobrush
to (report) the command of the Representative of the Polyesya
Oblast Voyenkomat, comrad Karapuzov,
July 7, 1941.

#45 - MISHURIS Isak Mojshe Abramovich
1894."

The team of 49 people was put under the command of an
unknown person (the signature was unreadable). Apparently
it was the signature of the last person in the list. In
other words, Pnina's father, together with 48 other men
were conscripted in the town of Khoiniki and
sent on the same day to the town of Dobrush.
Their orders were to report to a certain comrade Karapuzov
who represented the Voyenkomat of the Polesye
District . Checking a map, one will notice that Dobrush
is 60 km east of Khoiniki, 20 km east of Gomel,
and 20 km west of the Russian border. Dobrush is
situated on the main Gomel - Bransk Highway. The question
is, how were they supposed to make their way to Dobrush?
I'll deal with this later on in my narration. Obviously
we decided to visit the Dobrush Voyenkomat.

While waiting for Volfson to arrive, Inna tried
unsuccessfully to contact the Headmistress of the Khoyniki
school. So after completing our search at the
Voyenkomat, and once again with the aid of Iakov
Yefimovich we made our way to the No. 2 School of Khoiniki,
where the Jewish children spent their early school years.
The honest truth is that the building had seen better
days. To our disappointment we were to learn that during
the war it had burned down together with all its lists of
past students.

Khoyniki No. 2 School where
Jewish children studied

Our next stop was Zabolot'ye,
Pnina's birthplace. At Skolyna ul.(todayMelezha Street), where most Jews of
the village resided, we met a Jewish couple related to
Volfson who were busy working in their "Agurot"
(vegetable garden), spreading their onion crop out to dry.
They led us to understand that today there isn't a single
soul alive with information regarding those who once
walked the streets of the village. Again, we had reached
a dead end. The same applies to the Hospital, a thing of
the past and, like the school, rebuilt since the war. All
we could do was take a few snap shots of Volfson, the
street whose name had been changed and the houses, some
of which had been renovated and painted. What had been,
had been, all of the past, never to return.

Kelly (left) with Volfson,
corner of Skolyna Street

Before departing Khoiniki and
saying farewell to Iakkov Yefimovich, we made our way to
one of the residential areas of the town in order to
visit the Old Jewish Cemetery. We had been there during
our previous visit and my objective was to view a
desecrated tombstone erected in the memory of all those
who had been butchered by the Nazis and their local
henchmen. Besides not finding the headstone with the
inscription commemorating the death of the Jewish
population, what we did find was sheer devastation, chaos
and vandalism. The few tombstones which still stood up
proudly on our previous visit, amidst all the rubble,
empty beer bottles and litter, were literally torn out of
the ground, dragged and scattered all over the cemetery.
I came away shocked and depressed.

Memorial Headstone (photographed
on previous visit)

The Inscription is as Follows:"Under
this stone, in the field of eternity, over here, in the
Valley of Woe your earth has been drenched with the
eternal tears of Sons and Daughters, Brothers and Sisters
and the entire community of Israel. Murdered by the
Hitlerites in the town Khoyniki in the year 1942. May
their souls repose in the Treasury of Souls. May G-d
revenge their blood, the Holy Martyrs." .

This Gravestone no longer
stands erect. It has been torn from its place and dragged
across the Cemetery

Khoiniki Cemetery - Devastated
Graves

Summing up my return visit to Zabolot'ye
and Khoiniki: I must honestly admit, that except
for the progress made regarding Pnina's father and
photographing the second part of her Birth Certificate, I
came to a dead end. However, there was some comfort in my
meeting with Volfson, walking down the street were
Pnina's mother's family had lived for who knows how many
generations. It's a pity that my original plan of
bringing Pnina's brother Avram with me just didn't work
out. Who knows what the outcome might have been? He might
have remembered the house that they lived in, etc.

After our visit to the Cemetery, with the
sun well in the western sky, we headed east. Our goal was
Gomel, where we were to spend the night. Galina
Swartz had booked us in advance into one of the better
hotels in the town. When the time arrived to pay the bill
we learned that booking ahead isn't such a good idea. For
some reason or other by booking rooms in advance the
price is double. On the other hand, if you don't book in
advance, on arriving you might find yourself without
anywhere to sleep. The room was well furnished and
comfortable, however, it lacked air conditioning.
Although the summer temperatures for one coming from the
Bet Shean Valley weren' t very high, the humidity was
very uncomfortable.

Come morning we found ourselves once
again traveling East towards the Russian Border, our
objective being the Voyenkomat at Dobrush. As usual Inna
informed the Archives of our impending visit and on our
arrival we were received very warmly. The Archivist was
very willing to help. All that she could show us was a
ledger containing the names of soldiers who had fallen in
battle and the name Isaak Mojshe Avramovich MISHURES
wasn't included. This was very strange, as in Khoiniki we
were given to understand that there should have been
information regarding the 49 recruits who, on arrival at
the Voyenkomat, were to report to comrade Karapuzov, the
Representative of the Polyes'ye Oblast Voyenkomat. The
question is: what became of the 49 recruits on arriving
at Dobrush, if at all? Secondly, what significance was
there to the command "Report to the representative
of the Polyes'ye Oblast Voyenkomat comrad Karapuzov"
(and where does the answer lie)?

Go back for a moment to Wednesday July 23,
and our impending visit to the State Archives of the
Brest Region where the Genealogical Records (Identity
Cards, Certificates of Births, Marriages and Deaths) are
held for the Poles'ye Voevodstvo (whole territory), 1920
- 1939. Prior to our departure, we phoned the Archives
and were informed that they didn't have any information
regarding Khoiniki. Could it have been that the
area of Belarus known as Poles'ye was divided
between Poland and Russia, with Khoiniki, being
in the East, belonging to Russia? If so, which Archive
holds the files with the information pertaining to the
conscripts who were sent to Dobrush?

Disappinted, we departed Dobrush on our
way back to Minsk. In order to do so, we had to pass
through Gomel. At the outskirts of the town we
decided to spend some time at the State Archives of the Gomel
Region. Among their holdings, they have information on
government bodies such as state administration,
economical, educational and various other institutions
for the period 1917 - 1992. From 1917, Dobrush
has been included in the territory of the State Archives
of the Gomel Region. Actually our intention was
making enquiries as to whether they had any information
on Co-operatives. The head of the department, Maria
Adolfovma, received us very warmly and during our meeting
with her our visit to Dobrush was mentioned. She
was surprised to learn from us that the only information
existing at the Dobrush Voyenkomat regarding
recruits from the Khoiniki Voyenkomat was a thin
ledger with the names of soldiers who had fallen in
battle. After a brief consultation with the head of the
Archives, a book was produced showing very clearly that
in 1964 a book of 401 pages containing the names of
conscripts had been sent to the Voyenkomat at Dobrush.

Kelly and Inna at Dobrush
Voyenkomat

It appears that the Archivist at Dobrush was
rather new at the job and very embarrassed, as she had no
information appertaining to the registration book. The
only answer that she could give was that she would look
into the matter and get back to us at Gomel. How
long this would take was questionable, so instead of
waiting for a reply, we make an about face and revisited
the Dobrush Voyenkomat. We had traveled so far,
and covered so many kilometers, another 40 kms wouldn't
make any difference. Besides, who knows what might await
us at the end of the road. On arriving at the Voyenkomat,
we were informed by the Archivist that her predecessor
had lent the book to certain historian named Peter
Isaakovich STREEBOEK. Obviously, it had not yet been
returned. Finding Peter Isaakovich was not a problem.
Just down the road in an old school building, he was busy
organizing the establishment of a Historical Museum, of
which he was the curator. After introducing ourselves and
explaining the reason for our visit, the sought after
Roster containing the 401 pages was produced.

Peter Isaakovich Streeboek

Inna set about scanning the Roster page
by page seeking the list of the 49 recruits from Khoiniki,
especially that of Pnina's father, Isaak Mojshe MISHURES
(or any other soldier by the name of MISHURES). This was
a tedious undertaking which required a great deal of
patience. The results unfortunately where negative and we
were rather disappointed. Included in the book were notes
regarding individuals who were released from service for
various reasons such as illness. We could only speculate
as to the negative results and in Peter's opinion, the
following are some possibilities that could have happened:

1. 49 recruits were sent under the
command of the last recruit on the list (very possibly by
foot, certainly not by bus or even by train) 60 km to Dobrush.
On the way were many forests. Perhaps there were those
who decided "This War isn't for ME" and
disappeared into the forests.

2. According to Peter, there was a very
large stockpile of ammunition at Dobrush, strategically
located only 20 km from the Russian border on the main
Gomel - Byransk Highway . On arrival, perhaps the
soldiers weren't even registered but put straight to work
to aid in the removal of this valuable commodity for use
at a later stage.

3. Small local units were deployed in the
area in order to delay the enemy's swift advance while
the main Russian forces retreated. On August 23, 1941 the
Germans occupied Khoiniki and by January 1942
all the Jews who were not evacuated were killed.

4. We had learned at the Khoiniki
Voyenkomat that on July 7, 1941, directly after being
conscripted, Pnina's father and the other 48 recruits
were to proceed to the Voyenkomat at Dobrush in
order to "Report to comrad Karapuzov, the
representative of the Polyes'ye Oblast
Voyenkomat." The question is, Why? Was the Polyes'ye
Oblast Voyenkomat situated in some other town to
which they had to be transferred? Is this the reason the
list with their names was not include in the book? Was
there a Unit comprised solely of soldiers from the Polyes'ye
Oblast and if so where is the documentation of this
Unit held today? This and many more questions could be
asked regarding this dilemma.

5. Perhaps, besides the book with the 401
pages, there were additional books containing the names
of men called up in order to serve in the Soviet Army.

After returning home and giving this
matter further thought, I was reminded of something
regarding their evacuation which Manya told us on one of
our visits. I cannot vouch for its truth. On the day that
Avram, Pnina and Manya and their mother boarded the train
which was to transport them to safety in the hinterland
of Russia, their father was there in order to help them
settle down comfortably. This was not an easy task since
the mother was a sick and handicapped person. Manya also
told us that this train wasn't anything like the luxury
Moscow - Saint Petersburg midnight trains of today. It
was made up of boxcars, possibly bedded down with straw,
and jammed to capacity with human cargo.

According to a Testimony given at Yad
Veshem, four trains, each containing about 25 wagons,
were allocated for the purpose of evacuating the Jewish
population. Parts of the fourth train were strafed by
German fighter planes. Apparently it wasn't possible to
supply any more trains or wagons in order to evacuate the
entire Jewish population.

If this is correct and Manya's memory
still serves us well , then what was the father doing at
the railway station on August 2, the day of the
evacuation, if he had been called up on July 7 and
dispatched the same day to Dobrush? Was he stationed in
the nearby vicinity or was he given special leave in
order to assist them? The questions are many and the
answer is lacking and who knows if we shall ever receive
one. My only hope is that Peter Isaakovich, who promised
to follow up the matter may come across additional
information. Before departing I wrote a few lines of
thanks and signed his guest book.

Rather disappointed that we had not been
able to solve what I thought we had in the palm of our
hands, we headed west towards Gomel and the main highway
via Bobruysk to Minsk. After a journey of some five hours
we arrived tired but safe in Minsk. Now all that remained
was our meeting at the National Archives of Belarus with
Galina, who prepared a report on all that we had
discussed during our visit the previous week. The meeting
was set for the following day, Wednesday, July 30.

As promised, Galina presented me with a
very concise report dealing with all the points and
questions put to her at our previous meeting. From the
outset, I was aware that without knowing the birthplace
of both father and Boris, and the maiden name of the
mother, the possibility of receiving information was very
scant. However, what she did disclose was the names and
addresses of seven Khoiniki and Zabolot'ye
residents who in 1964 gave evidence against Nazi
collaborators responsible for the death of many Jews and
Partisans.

Galina, National Archives of
Belarus

The Testimony given at Yad Vashem, which
I referred to earlier, goes on to say that very few of
those who were not evacuated or managed to escape
survived the war. The extermination of the Jews was
carried out by the Germans with the help of more than a
few members of the local Police Force. The Jews were
herded into a building that was used as a shop and were
beaten with steel chains by a citizen of Khoyniki
named of Adam Garlitz. He then threaded nails through the
soles of his boots and trampled over their live bodies.
There were those who could not bear the torture and
committed suicide. Only one little girl, Genia
Labovskaya, miraculously survived. It was she, the sole
survivor, who after the war told the outside world what
had become of those who were murdered by the Germans and
their collaborators. The local residents and people from
the surrounding villages went about looting the property
and possessions of the Jews.

From the National Archives, Inna and I
once again made our way to the Central Post Office where
we set about writing letters to all the seven people who
had given evidence against the local collaborators. With
the exception of one witness the rest are more or less of
the same age as Boris. The possibility exits that among
the remaining six, there might be one or more people who
knew him personally.

Central Post Office in Minsk,
writing letters

Summing this up, I must honestly say that
I didn' t achieve very much and certainly didn't solve
any of the six objectives I set out to probe. However,
wherever I went and at all the Archives I visited I left
my footsteps. No matter how well one plans a trip and
bases his research on computerized information set down
by official Archival authorities, it doesn't mean that
the information is relevant.

For example, although the State Archives
of the Brest Region, in Brest, contain the Identity
cards, Certificates of Birth, marriage and Death for the Polesye
Voevodstvo whole territory 1920 - 1939, as well as the
fond of the Brest School Okrug Board of Guardians,
dealing with students for the period 1921 - 1939 in the Polesye
Voevodstvo, and prior to the war, Khoyniki was
in the Polesye district, we were told they never
held any documents concerning the town.

While in Belarus, all this seemed very
strange. On one hand, Khoyniki was situated in Polesye
and on the other hand, at Brest there was no information
regarding Khoyniki. Apparently the answer lies
in the fact that until 1939, Polesye, like the
rest of Belarus, was divided up between Poland and
Russia, with Brest belonging to Poland and Khoyniki
to Russia. The question is, where are the holdings of
Eastern Poleyse till 1939 kept? Also, where is the
information regarding the fate of the Khoyniki
conscripts, including Pnina's father? Could the answer be
found in the Podolsk Archives?

This needs looking into and, obviously,
any information on the subject would be most welcome.